U.S. state

From Genealogy

A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States (although four states use the official title commonwealth). The separate state governments and the federal government share sovereignty, in that an "American" is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of residence. However, state citizenship is very flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states (with the exception of convicts on parole).

The United States Constitution allocates power between the two levels of government in general terms. By ratifying the Constitution, each state transfers certain sovereign powers to the federal government and agrees to share other powers. Under the Tenth Amendment, all powers not explicitly transferred or shared are retained by the states and the people. Historically, the tasks of public education, public health, transportation and other infrastructure have been considered primarily state responsibilities, although all have significant federal funding and regulation as well.

Over time, the Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization, with the federal government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a continuing debate over "states' rights," which concerns the extent and nature of the powers that the states have given to the federal government.

Contents 1 List of states 1.1 Admission of states into the union 1.2 Naming issues: Commonwealths, republics, and states 1.3 State governments 2 Origin of states' names 2.1 British 2.2 Native American 2.3 Spanish 2.4 French 2.5 Other 2.6 Origin Unknown 3 Grouping of the states in regions 4 State lists 5 External links 6 References

[edit] List of states

The following sortable table lists each of the 50 states of the United States of America with the following information:

• The common state name,
• The official state name or names,
• The United States Postal Service (USPS) two-character state abbreviation^[1]
  (also used as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard 3166-2 country subdivision code),
• The date the state ratified the United States Constitution or was admitted to the Union,
• The United States Census Bureau estimate of state population as of 2006-07-01,^[2]
• The state capital,
• The most populous incorporated place or census-designated place within the state as of 2005-07-01, as estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau,^[3] and
• An image of the state flag.

The 50 United States of America

State	Official Name	USPS	Date	Population	Capital	Most Populous City	Flag
Alabama	State of Alabama	AL	181912141819-12-14	04,599,030	Montgomery	Birmingham
Alaska	State of Alaska	AK	195901031959-01-03	00,670,053	Juneau	Anchorage
Arizona	State of Arizona	AZ	191202141912-02-14	06,166,318	Phoenix	Phoenix
Arkansas	State of Arkansas	AR	183606151836-06-15	02,810,872	Little Rock	Little Rock
California	State of California	CA	185009091850-09-09	36,457,549	Sacramento	Los Angeles
Colorado	State of Colorado	CO	187608011876-08-01	04,753,377	Denver	Denver
Connecticut	State of Connecticut	CT	178801091788-01-09	03,504,809	Hartford	Bridgeport[4]
Delaware	State of Delaware	DE	178712071787-12-07	00,853,476	Dover	Wilmington
Florida	State of Florida	FL	184503031845-03-03	18,089,888	Tallahassee	Jacksonville[5]
Georgia	State of Georgia	GA	178801021788-01-02	09,363,941	Atlanta	Atlanta
Hawaii	State of Hawai`i Moku`a-ina o Hawai`i	HI	195908211959-08-21	01,285,498	Honolulu	Honolulu
Idaho	State of Idaho	ID	189007031890-07-03	01,466,465	Boise	Boise
Illinois	State of Illinois	IL	181812031818-12-03	12,831,970	Springfield	Chicago
Indiana	State of Indiana	IN	181612111816-12-11	06,313,520	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
Iowa	State of Iowa	IA	184612281846-12-28	02,982,085	Des Moines	Des Moines
Kansas	State of Kansas	KS	186101291861-01-29	02,764,075	Topeka	Wichita
Kentucky	Commonwealth of Kentucky	KY	179206011792-06-01	04,206,074	Frankfort	Louisville
Louisiana	State of Louisiana État de Louisiane	LA	181204301812-04-30	04,287,768	Baton Rouge	New Orleans[6]
Maine	State of Maine	ME	182003151820-03-15	01,321,574	Augusta	Portland
Maryland	State of Maryland	MD	178804281788-04-28	05,615,727	Annapolis	Baltimore[7]
Massachusetts	Commonwealth of Massachusetts	MA	178802061788-02-06	06,437,193	Boston	Boston
Michigan	State of Michigan	MI	183701261837-01-26	10,095,643	Lansing	Detroit
Minnesota	State of Minnesota	MN	185805111858-05-11	05,167,101	Saint Paul	Minneapolis
Mississippi	State of Mississippi	MS	181712101817-12-10	02,910,540	Jackson	Jackson
Missouri	State of Missouri	MO	182108101821-08-10	05,842,713	Jefferson City	Kansas City[8]
Montana	State of Montana	MT	188911081889-11-08	00,944,632	Helena	Billings
Nebraska	State of Nebraska	NE	186703011867-03-01	01,768,331	Lincoln	Omaha
Nevada	State of Nevada	NV	186410311864-10-31	02,495,529	Carson City	Las Vegas
New Hampshire	State of New Hampshire	NH	178806211788-06-21	01,314,895	Concord	Manchester[9]
New Jersey	State of New Jersey	NJ	178712181787-12-18	08,724,560	Trenton	Newark[10]
New Mexico	State of New Mexico Estado de Nuevo México	NM	191201061912-01-06	01,954,599	Santa Fe	Albuquerque
New York	State of New York	NY	178807261788-07-26	19,306,183	Albany	New York
North Carolina	State of North Carolina	NC	178911211789-11-21	08,856,505	Raleigh	Charlotte
North Dakota	State of North Dakota	ND	188911021889-11-02	00,635,867	Bismarck	Fargo
Ohio	State of Ohio	OH	180303011803-03-01	11,478,006	Columbus	Columbus[11]
Oklahoma	State of Oklahoma	OK	190711161907-11-16	03,579,212	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City
Oregon	State of Oregon	OR	185902141859-02-14	03,700,758	Salem	Portland
Pennsylvania	Commonwealth of Pennsylvania	PA	178712121787-12-12	12,440,621	Harrisburg	Philadelphia
Rhode Island	State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations	RI	179005291790-05-29	01,067,610	Providence	Providence
South Carolina	State of South Carolina	SC	178805231788-05-23	04,321,249	Columbia	Columbia[12]
South Dakota	State of South Dakota	SD	188911021889-11-02	00,781,919	Pierre	Sioux Falls
Tennessee	State of Tennessee	TN	179606011796-06-01	06,038,803	Nashville	Memphis[13]
Texas	State of Texas	TX	184512291845-12-29	23,507,783	Austin	Houston[14]
Utah	State of Utah	UT	189601041896-01-04	02,550,063	Salt Lake City	Salt Lake City
Vermont	State of Vermont	VT	179103041791-03-04	00,623,908	Montpelier	Burlington
Virginia	Commonwealth of Virginia	VA	178806251788-06-25	07,642,884	Richmond	Virginia Beach[15]
Washington	State of Washington	WA	188911111889-11-11	06,395,798	Olympia	Seattle
West Virginia	State of West Virginia	WV	186306201863-06-20	01,818,470	Charleston	Charleston
Wisconsin	State of Wisconsin	WI	184805291848-05-29	05,556,506	Madison	Milwaukee
Wyoming	State of Wyoming	WY	189007101890-07-10	00,515,004	Cheyenne	Cheyenne

[edit] Admission of states into the union

Since the establishment of the United States, the number of states has expanded from 13 to 50. The Constitution is rather laconic on the process by which new states can be added, noting only that "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union", and forbidding a new state to be created out of the territory of an existing state without the consent of both that state's legislature and of Congress.

In practice, nearly all states admitted to the union after the original thirteen have been formed from U.S. terri